CHAPTER 2
It was early evening when the rain came. The Sike family was already in their homes, retired by their fires. They had recounted the adventures of the day to one another on the trek home, husbands and wives gossiping this and that. Peytra’d been uncharacteristically silent as she walked back, the goddess statue tucked under her arm, this time wrapped in the black velvet she had won. Her siblings had first congratulated her and their mother for their wins: Peytra for the statue and her mother for a first-place ribbon in a pie contest. However, it soon became clear that Peytra was not in a celebratory mood, so her brothers took to ridiculing of the winning piece and her sisters simply took turns holding her hand and tried to make her smile. Really, what would she do without them?
